"Black Men Ain't Sh*t" x The Disconnect Between Black Men & Women

Oct 23, 2010

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I abhor the phrase “black men ain’t sh*t”. To me, that phrase is about more than just a lack of viable men to date. It’s speaks volumes about the overall public perception of the black man. Our overwhelmingly negative image is deeply ingrained into the majority, as well as our black female counterparts who should be aware of the issues that we face better than anyone else. (Granted many of us our blind to the issues that you face, but do two wrongs make a right?)

I abhor the disconnect between black men and women more. Black men are constantly surrounded by swarms of criticism and blame, while most of us are just trying to strike a balance between personal achievements and collective failures. Yes, the black woman may be facing an uphill dating battle but we all have problems to deal with that are specific to our person, whether it be based on gender, race, sexual preference, etc.

Many black women make a good argument about the small number of good black men, highlighting issues such as high incarnation rates. But everyone fails to keep it funky and extrapolate out all the reasons why black males are disproportionately imprisoned: higher patrol in black areas, the arresting officer’s discretion as to whether or not to make an arrest, heavier sentencing, conversion of simple violations into major offenses, etc. The same can be said about education, amongst other issues.

I abhor “black men ain’t sh*t” because it completely overshadows the problems that we face. Even as an upstanding college graduate, I get pulled over by the police every few months. How many of you get “randomly" stopped and have your car once’d-over with flash lights for no reason at all? It’s scary. It’s embarrassing. It happens a LOT. No, we may not have to deal with the same type of disempowerment that women face. No, we may not have to face the legal restrictions and social sanctions like homosexuals. But we do have our own unique subset of issues that have dire consequences. I think we deserve more understanding and less labels. (Lazy, dangerous, aint sh*t or otherwise.)

In no way, shape, or form am I asking for anyone’s sympathy as a black man, because I surely don’t need it. But God only knows, I just wish you all would be a little more considerate. More than anything I just wish the gap between black men and women wasn’t so wide because from my personal experience, teamwork makes the dream work--shout out to my girlfriend, Kellie, the "Michelle to my Barack" as I've heard eloquently stated before.

*logs back off all social networking sites*

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Don't watch me, w-w-watch my feet....